Northern Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program UPDATE Newsletter

"Million Hearts" Program to Prevent One Million Heart Attacks
and Strokes

What does the Northern Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program do?

The Volunteer Ombudsman Program is Recruiting for 2013

2013 is the Year of Elder Abuse Prevention

The federal Administration on Aging has proclaimed 2013 as
the Year of Elder Abuse Prevention to raise awareness about elder abuse,
neglect, and exploitation. Each year, an estimated 2.1 million older
Americans are victims of elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation. This
number is probably low since experts estimate that only one in five cases
are reported.

Elder abuse takes many forms. Unfortunately, it is sometimes committed
by a caregiver or trusted individual and it can cause terrible harm to a
vulnerable elder. According to the Administration on Aging, forms of
elder abuse may include financial exploitation, physical abuse, or
neglect by a caregiver or self-neglect by an older adult, and/or
emotional abuse.

Examples of financial exploitation include the failure by a caregiver
with control over an older person's money to provide for their needs;
excessive gifts or payment for care and companionship; and property
transfers signed by an older adult whose competency is impaired.

Physical abuse can appear as unexplained fractures, bruises, sores, or
burns. It can also appear as unexplained sexually transmitted disease.
Neglect can appear as lack of basic hygiene, appropriate clothing, food
or medical aids. Examples of this include a person with untreated bed
sores or pressure ulcers; a person with dementia who is left
unsupervised; or a home that is dirty, in disrepair or lacks electricity,
plumbing, heating or cooling, and appliances.

Emotional abuse is a little harder to detect. Signs of emotional abuse
include unexplained or uncharacteristic changes in behavior, such as
withdrawal from normal activities or unexplained changes in alertness.
This abuse can happen if a caregiver isolates the older person or is
verbally aggressive, demeaning, controlling or uncaring.

Elder abuse could happen to anyone whether they are in a hospital or
live at home or an assisted living or nursing facilities. It occurs in
all socioeconomic and ethnic groups.

If you would like to find out what you can do to help protect older
adults from elder abuse, you can find additional information on the
Administration on Aging website at www.aoa.gov and select Elder Rights
Protection.

TOOLS AVAILABLE TO PROTECT AGAINST ELDER ABUSE

If you visit the Administration on Aging website, you will find a
toolkit, an outreach guide, and fact sheets to raise public awareness
about elder abuse. The agency lists ten things you can do to help prevent
elder abuse:

Learn the signs of elder abuse and neglect.

Call or visit elderly relatives, friends, and neighbors and ask how
they are doing.

Provide a respite for a caregiver by filling in for a few hours or
more.

Ask an older acquaintance to share his or her talents by teaching you
or your children a new skill.

Ask your faith leaders to discuss with their congregations elder abuse
prevention and the importance of respecting older adults.

Ask your bank manager to train tellers on how to detect financial
exploitation of elders.

Suggest your doctor talk to his or her older patients individually
about possible abuse.

Contact your local adult protective services or long-term care
ombudsman program to learn how to support their work helping at-risk
elders.

Volunteer to be a friendly visitor to a nursing home resident or
homebound elder in your community.

Send a letter to your local paper, radio, or TV station suggesting it
cover World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, June 15, or National
Grandparents' Day, September 9.

You can act to protect seniors by reporting any suspected abuse to your
local Adult Protective Services and to the Ombudsman Program. Contact
information for both of these agencies follows.

Adult Protective Services (APS) Approach

Since only one in five cases of elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation is
reported, it is important to know about reporting procedures. Both the
Ombudsman program and Adult Protective Services can look into situations
where abuse and/or neglect are suspected.

Adult Protective Services investigates reports of abuse, neglect, and
exploitation of adults 60 years of age or older and incapacitated adults
age 18 or older. Once a report is received, an APS worker will assess the
situation for service needs and determine whether the adult in question
needs protective services. If protective services are needed and accepted
by the individual, local APS workers may arrange for a wide variety of
health, housing, social and legal services to stop the mistreatment or
prevent further mistreatment.

Anyone can report a suspected incident of abuse, neglect, or
exploitation. It just takes a phone call. Some potential reporters worry
about their identity being revealed to the adult in question. However,
state law requires that the identity of people who report suspected
abuse, neglect or exploitation be kept strictly confidential. Some
people, known as mandated reporters, are required by law to immediately
report suspected abuse, neglect and exploitation.

To make a report to Adult Protective Services, call the county hotline
in which the adult resides:

Arlington County: 703-228-1350, TTY 711

City of Alexandria: 703-746-5778, TTY 711

Fairfax County: 703-324-7450, TTY 711

Loudoun County: 703-777-0353, TTY 711

Prince William County: 703-792-4200, TTY 711

Northern Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program Approach:

The Northern Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Office, like Adult
Protective Services, investigates reports of abuse, neglect and
exploitation. However, the Ombudsman acts only at the direction and
consent of the consumer or their authorized representative. The Ombudsman
will investigate and attempt to resolve the complaint and advocate for
the rights of residents. The Ombudsman is not a mandated reporter, which
means that an Ombudsman does not have to report abuse to the authorities.

Another way the Ombudsman Program differs from Adult Protective Services
is that it covers five jurisdictions: Alexandria, Arlington,
Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William.

Need Information or Have a Concern About Nursing or Assisted Living
Facilities? Contact us at:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has
specified February as the month for their "Million Hearts:
campaign. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are also co-leaders in this
effort to improve cardiovascular health across the nation and to make a
long-lasting impact on preventing heart disease and stroke. The goal of
"Million Hearts" is to prevent one million heart attacks and
strokes by 2017.

Some activities to achieve this include:

Educational awareness campaigns to increase awareness about heart
disease prevention and empower patients to take control of their heart
health.

The use of health information technology to improve the delivery of
care for high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Promoting community efforts to educate people about smoke-free air
policies and to reduce the amount of sodium in food.

"Million Hearts" has outlined five steps that each person can do
to reach the goal of reducing one million heart attacks and strokes:

Prevent heart disease and stroke in your families by understanding the
risks of heart disease.

Get up and get active by exercising for 30 minutes several days a week.

Know your ABCS:

Appropriate aspirin therapy

Blood pressure control

Cholesterol management

Smoking cessation

4. Stay strong by eating a heart-healthy
diet that is high in fresh fruits and vegetables and low in sodium,
saturated and trans fats, and cholesterol.

5. Take control of your heart health by
following your doctor's instructions for medications and treatment.

Heart disease is responsible for one of every three deaths in the
country. "Million Hearts" is a national initiative that aims to
prevent one million heart attacks and strokes in the next 5 years. You
can learn more about this program by going to
http.millionhearts.hhs.gov/. There are tools available on this website to
help you learn what your heart attack risk is, a blood pressure
calculator, and an interactive atlas of heart disease and stroke that can
show the geographic differences at the local level.

What an Ombudsman does:

Advocates for improving the quality of life for persons receiving
long-term care services

Provides information about long-term care providers to help make an
informed decision

Educates the community about long-term care issues

Visits residents of long-term care facilities on a weekly basis through
our volunteer program

Trains long-term care staff on long-term care related information

Consults with providers

The Virginia Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is now
part of the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services

Volunteer Ombudsmen Needed For Residents in Long-Term Care

The Northern Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is looking for
people who are empathetic, diplomatic, assertive and skilled
communicators to be Volunteer Ombudsmen. As an Ombudsman you will be
assigned to visit a local nursing or assisted living facility, working to
ensure that residents' rights are being protected, and helping residents
with problems that they are unable to resolve alone. Volunteer Ombudsmen
dedicate four hours per week for one year. Visits must occur
between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays. Ongoing training and support
provided. The next initial 3?day training will be March 11, 13 and 21,
2013, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Northern Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is committed to a
policy of nondiscrimination in all programs and services. To request
reasonable accommodations or alternate formats, call 703-324-5861; TTY
711.

This publication has been created or produced by Fairfax County with
financial assistance, in whole or in part, from the Administration on
Aging and/or the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative
Services.